Wedging action cup dispenser

ABSTRACT

A drinking cup dispenser having a storage receptacle for containing a stack of cups in nesting engagement, and cup dispensing means movable through a dispensing stroke for dispensing the cups in succession from one end of the stack while supporting the remaining cups in the receptacle. The dispensing means includes a wedge formation which enters between the rim beads on the end cup and the next cup in the stack to forcibly separate the end cup from the stack with a wedging action and thereby release the end cup for removal from the dispenser while supporting the remaining cups within the storage receptacle.

United States Patent 1191 Miller 1 Oct. 30, 1973 WEDGING ACTION CUP DISPENSER 21 Appl No.: 148,184

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 832,648, June 12, 1969,

3,272,384 9/1966 Edwards 221/221 X Primary Examiner-Stanley H. Tollberg Attorney-Robert E. Geauque [5 7] ABSTRACT A drinking cup dispenser havinga storage receptacle for containing a stack of cups in nesting engagement, and cup dispensing means movable through a dispensing stroke for dispensing the cups in succession from one end of the stack while supporting the remaining cups in the receptacle. The dispensing means includes a wedge formation which enters between the rim beads on the end cup and the next cup in the stack to forcibly separate the end cup from the stack with a wedging action and thereby release the end cup for removal from the dispenser while supporting the remaining cups within the storage receptacle.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures WEDGING ACTION CUP DISPENSER This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 832,648 filed June I2, 1969, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to the field of article dispensers and more particularly to a dispenser for disposable cups of the type which are shaped to nest one inside of the other and have an external bead about their rim.

2. Prior Art Disposable cups of the kind to which this invention pertains are well known in the art and are commonly used in homes, offices and the like as disposable drinking cups. These cups are generally constructed of paper which is treated to be impervious to liquids although they may also be constructed of plastic. In order to enable the cups to nest, they are made in a conical or frusto-conical shape.

A variety of dispensers have been devised for dispensing such cups. One of the more common cup dispensers for this purpose has a storage receptacle for containing a stack of cups with the latter disposed in nesting engagement and the bottom cup in the stack exposed through an end opening in the receptacle such that this cup may be pulled from the receptacle. Means are provided for resisting movement from the storage receptacle of the remaining cups in the stack when the bottom cup is removed. The cups may thus be extracted one by one from the dispenser.

One of the difficulties encountered in the use of this type of disposable cup dispenser resides in the fact that the cups tend to nest with a light wedge fit because of the small taper angle of their walls. Moreover, gripping the bottom cup to remove it increases the contact pressure between the cup wall and that of the next cup in the stack.As a consequence, the force required to separate the bottom cup from the stack of cups often exceeds the resisting force exerted on the remaining cups in the stack to retain the latter in the storage receptacle. When this occurs, two or more cups are removed. This, of course, results in wasted cups. Moreover, it is often difficult to secure a sufficient grip on the bottom cup to remove it, particularly if the cups taper to a point.

Automatic and semi-automatic cup dispensers have been devised in an effort to alleviate these problems. The existing dispensers of this type, however, are quite complicated and costly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a cup dispenser which avoids the above noted and other deficiencies of the existing dispensers. To this end the present distaining a stack of cups in nesting engagement and dispensing means of simple, economical construction for dispensing the cups in succession from one end, generally the bottom end, of the stack. The dispensing means is movable through a prescribed dispensing stroke and is effective during each stroke to separate the end or bottom cup from the stack with a wedging action which releases the cup for easy removal from the dispenser while supporting the remaining cups in the storage receptacle in a positive fashion which prevents the removal of more than one cup at a time. In the particular embodiment of the invention disclosed for illustrative purposes, the cup dispensing means is a dispenser slide which is supported on the cup receptacle for edgewise reciprocating motion across the end opening in the receptacle. This slide has an opening which registers with the receptacle opening in all positions of the slide. Provided on the slide along the edges of its opening are wedge-shaped formations'which enter between the rim beads of the end cup and its adjacent cup in one limiting position of the slide, to separate and release the bottom cup while supporting the remainder of the cup stack. Additional cup engaging formations are provided on the slide along the edges of the opening which 'penser is equipped with a storage receptacle for conengage under the bead of the next cup in the stack in the other limiting position of the slide to support the stack in the receptacle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cup dispenser ac cording to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the dispenser;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section similar to FIG. 3 with the dispenser slide in its extended cup dispensing position;

FIG. 5 is a section taken on line 55 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section similar to FIG. 5 but taken through FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary detail illustrating the wedging action of a dispenser slide wedge; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the wedge.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning to the drawings, the invention provides a dis- 'penser 10 for disposable drinking cups 12 of the kind which are shaped to nest one inside of the other and have an external bead I4 about their rim. Cups of this type are commonly constructed of paper which is treated to be impervious to liquids or of plastic and have either a generally conical or frusto-conical shape. The illustrated cups are conical in shape and taper to a point.

The present cup dispenser 10 has an elongate storage receptacle 16 with an end opening 18 and cup dispensing means 20. The storage receptacle is shaped and dimensioned to contain a stack 22 of cups 12 with the latter disposed in nesting engagement, as shown. Dispensing means 20 is movable through a prescribed dispensing stroke and is operative to dispense the cups in succession from the end of the stack adjacent the receptacle opening 18. In this instance, the storage receptacle is mounted in an upright position with its open end lowermost, and the cup stack 22 is placed in the receptacle with the bottoms of the cups lowermost. Accordingly, the dispensing means 20 operates to dispense the cups in succession, bottoms first, from the bottom of the stack.

Dispensing of the cups 12 in succession in response to successive dispensing strokes of the dispensing means 20 is accomplished by dispensing wedge formations 24 on the dispensing means. During each dispensing stroke of the dispensing means, these wedge formations enter between the rim beads 14 of the end cup and the next cup in the cup stack 22 to separate the end cup from the next cup with a wedging action and release the end cup for removal from the dispenser. The wedge formations also support the remaining cups in the storage receptacle 16 in the course of this wedging action to prevent removal of more than one cup at a time from the dispenser. In the particular inventive embodiment illustrated, the dispensing means 20 has a lin ear reciprocating dispensing stroke, and the wedge formations 24 are located to enter between the cup rim beads at one end of the stroke. The dispensing means has additional formations 26 which engage the rim bead of the next cup in the stack, which is now the end cup, at the opposite end of the dispensing stroke to support the stack in the storage receptacle.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings, the cup receptacle 16 illustrated is a cylinder or tube open at its top and bottom ends. The open lower end of the receptacle provides its end opening 18. The open top of the receptacle provides an opening 28 through which the cup stack 22 may be loaded into the receptacle. The receptacle has an internal diameter slightly larger than the major or rim diameter of the cups 12, such that the cup stack is free to drop under the action of gravity as the cups are dispensed in succession from the bottom of the stack.

The illustrated cup dispensing means 20 is a slide plate, hereinafter referred to simply as a slide, disposed in a plane generally normal to the longitudinal axis of the cup receptacle l6. Dispenser slide 20 is mounted on the lower end of the receptacle for edgewise reciprocation across its bottom opening 18 by a slide support 36. This support comprises a plate 32 having a central circular opening 34 of the same diameter as the internal diameter of the cup receptacle. Rigidly joined to the upper surface of the support plate 32, coaxially with the plate opening 34, is a sleeve 36. Sleeve 36 is internally dimensioned to receive the lower end of the receptacle which can be removably or permanently secured in position within the sleeve.

At the underside of the slide support plate 32, along two opposite edges thereof, are downwardly and inwardly directed flanges 38. These flanges define inwardly opening channels 40 which slidably receive the edges of the dispenser slide 20. The slide is thus free to move back and forth across the cup receptacle opening 18 between its limiting positions of FIGS. and 6. A pin 42 on the slide projects through a slot 44 in the slide support plate 32 to stop the slide in these limiting positions. For convenience in the ensuing description, the slide position of FIG. 5 is referred to as its retracted or stack supporting position. The slide position of FIG. 6 is referred to as its extended or cup dispensing position. Mounted along one end of the slide is a grip 46 which may be grasped to move the slide between its limiting positions.

Extending into the opposite end of the slide 32 is an opening 48. This opening is elongated longitudinally of the slide to register with the cup receptacle opening 18 in every position of the slide from its retracted position to its extended position. The lateral dimension or width of this slide opening is approximately equal to or just slightly greater than the diameter of the receptacle opening.

The slide wedge and stack supporting formations 24, 26 are furnished by pairs of inwardly projecting fingers along the longitudinal edges of the slide opening 48. The two fingers of each pair are aligned laterallyl-of the opening, as shown. Wedge fingers 24 are located at the open end of the slide opening and are integrally formed on the slide. As shown in FIG. 6, these fingers are situated on the center line of the cup receptacle opening 18 when the dispenser slide 32 occupies its extended or cup dispensing position. Referring particularly to FIGS. 68, it will be observed that the leading edges of the wedge fingers 24, relative to their direction of motion during extension of the slide, are beveled at the undersides of the fingers to provide the fingers with tapered or wedge shaped tips. The cup stack supporting fingers 26 are formed separately from the dispenser slide 32 and are secured to the underside of the slide in any convenient way, as by screws or other fasteners. These fingers are located adjacent the closed end of the slide opening 48 and are situated on the center line of the receptacle opening 18 when the slide occupies its retracted or stack supporting position of FIG. 5. The inner edges of the fingers are concave, as shown, to conform to the curvature of the cup walls.

The present cup dispenser 10 may be mounted in any convenient way. The particular dispenser shown has a rear mounting bracket 50 for attachment to a supporting wall 52 or other vertical supporting surface.

The operation of the cup dispenser 10 is obvious from the preceding description. Thus, assuming that the dispenser slide 32 is initially in its retracted position of FIG. 5 and the cup receptacle 16 contains a stack 22 of nesting cups 12 to be dispensed, the conical lower end of the bottom cup in the stack depends downwardly through the dispenser slide opening 48 and the rim bead 14 on this cup rests on the slide stack supporting fingers 26, as shown in FIG. 3. The bottom cup is dispensed from the stack by first extending the slide to its position of FIG. 6 and then returning the slide to its retracted position of FIG. 5.

During extension of the slide, the slide fingers 26 move out from under the rim bead on the bottom cup approximately simultaneously with or just slightly after entrance of the beveled tips of the slide wedge fingers 24 between the rim beads on the bottom cup and the next upper cup in the stack. Continued extension of the slide to its limiting extended position of FIG. 6 drives the wedge fingers between the rim beads to their final position of FIG. 9, wherein the full thickness of these fingers is located between the beads. This action separates the bottom cup from the stack with a wedging action and releases the bottom cup for removal from the dispenser. When the dispenser is mounted in the upright position shown and the cups are conically tapered as are the cups 12, the bottom cup may simply drop by gravity when thus released. In other cases, such as where frusto-conical cups of small taper angle are dispensed, it may be necessary to pull the bottom cup from the dispenser. In either event, the wedge fingers 24 engage under the rim bead 14 of the next upper cup to positively support the remaining cups in the storage receptacle l6 and thereby prevent the removal of more than one cup at a time.

After the bottom cup 12 has been dispensed, the dispenser slide 20 is returned to its retracted position of FIG. 5 to condition the dispenser for its next dispensing cycle. During this return, the slide fingers 26 move under the rim bead 14 on the next cup, which is now the bottom cup, to again support the cup stack 22. It will be immediately evident to those versed in the art that the dispenser may be mounted in an inverted position if suitable resilient means, such as a light spring, is provided to replace the gravitational force for urging the cup stack 22 toward the dispenser slide 20. Also, the cups 12 may be dispensed tops first by inverting the stack in the cup receptacle.

What is claimed as new in support of Letters Patent l. A dispenser for nesting cups having a rim bead, comprising:

an elongate storage receptacle having an opening at one end and adapted to contain a stack of nesting cups, and dispensing means mounted on said open end of said receptacle for dispensing said cups in succssion from the adjacent end of said stack by exerting a wedging action between the rim beads of the respective end cup and the next cup of said stack to separate said end cup from said stack for removal from said dispenser while supporting the remaining cups in said receptacle against removal with said end cup, said dispensing means comprises a flat plate dispenser slide, means on said receptacle supporting said slide for edgewise reciprocating motion across said receptacle opening in a plane generally normal to the axis of said receptacle and between an extended cup dispensing position and a retracted stack supporting position, said slide having an upper surface and a lower surface, said slide having an opening which registers with said dispensing opening in every position of said slide, said slide opening extends through the front end of said slide plate, a pair of tapered wedge fingers on said slide along opposite sides of said slide opening adjacent said front end of said slide, said wedge fingers having relatively sharp leading edges facing the opposite end of said slide opening and being substantially in alignment with said upper surface, and a pair of stack supporting fingers along said edges of said slide opening adjacent said opposite end thereof, the stacking surface of said stack supporting fingers being in alignment with said lower surface of said slide,

said stack supporting fingers are situated approximately on the center line of said receptacle opening and project a small distance inwardly of the edge of said receptacle opening to engage under the rim bead ofsaid end cup when said slide occupies said retracted position, and

said wedge fingers are situated approximately on said center line and project a small distance inwardly of the edge of said receptacle opening to engage between the rim beads on said end cup and said next cup when said slide occupies said extended position.

2. A cup dispenser according to claim 1 wherein:

said slide supporting means comprises a supporting plate disposed in a plane substantially normal to and secured to the open end of said receptacle, flanges at the underside of said supporting plate along two opposite edges thereof defining inwardly channels slidably receiving the edges of said slide, and said supporting plate having an opening of at least the same diameter as said receptacle opening.

3. A cup dispenser according to claim 2 wherein:

said slide is a flat plate.

4. A cup dispenser according to claim 3 wherein:

said wedge fingers are formed integrally with and are located in the plane of said slide plate, and

said stack supporting fingers are secured to the slide of said plate remote from said receptacle.

5. A cup dispenser according to claim 4 wherein:

said slide opening extends through said one end of said slide plate,

said receptacle is a tube open at both ends, and

said dispenser includes means for mounting said dispenser in an upright position with said slide plate at the bottom. 

1. A dispenser for nesting cups having a rim bead, comprising: an elongate storage receptacle having an opening at one end and adapted to contain a stack of nesting cups, and dispensing means mounted on said open end of said receptacle for dispensing said cups in succession from the adjacent end of said stack by exerting a wedging action between the rim beads of the respective end cup and the next cup of said stack to separate said end cup from said stack for removal from said dispenser while supporting the remaining cups in said receptacle against removal with said end cup, said dispensing means comprises a flat plate dispenser slide, means on said receptacle supporting said slide for edgewise reciprocating motion across said receptacle opening in a plane generally normal to the axis of said receptacle and between an extended cup dispensing position and a retracted stack supporting position, said slide having an upper surface and a lower surface, said slide having an opening which registers with said dispensing opening in every position of said slide, said slide opening extends through the front end of said slide plate, a pair of tapered wedge fingers on said slide along opposite sides of said slide opening adjacent said front end of said slide, said wedge fingers having relatively sharp leading edges facing the opposite end of said slide opening and being substantially in alignment with said upper surface, and a pair of stack supporting fingers along said edges of said slide opening adjacent said opposite end thereof, the stacking surface of said stack supporting fingers being in alignment with said lower surface of said slide, said stack supporting fingers are situated approximately on the center line of said receptacle opening and project a small distance inwardly of the edge of said receptacle opening to engage under the rim bead of said end cup when said slide occupies said retracted position, and said wedge fingers are situated approximately on said center line and project a small distance inwardly of the edge of said receptacle opening to engage between the rim beads on said end cup and said next cup when said slide occupies said extended position.
 2. A cup dispenser according to claim 1 wherein: said slide supporting means comprises a supporting plate disposed in a plane substantially normal to and secured to the open end of said receptacle, flanges at the underside of said supporting plate along two opposite edges thereof defining inwardly channels slidably receiving the edges of said slide, and said supporting plate having an opening of at least the same diameter as said receptacle opening.
 3. A cup dispenser according to claim 2 wherein: said slide is a flat plate.
 4. A cup dispenser according to claim 3 wherein: said wedge fingers are formed integrally with and are located in the plane of said slide plate, and said stack supporting fingers are secured to the slide of said plate remote from said receptacle.
 5. A cup dispenser according to claim 4 wherein: said slide opening extends through said one end of said slide plate, said receptacle is a tube open at both ends, and said dispenser includes means for mounting said dispenser in an upright position with said slide plate at the bottom. 